Summary

Daniel Hope's EAST MEETS WEST is an ambitious project that combines European classical music with the sounds of India. While many albums of this sort have been made before, few take such a delightfully bold approach. Breaking down all musical barriers, Hope shows, through his virtuosic violin playing, that music is universal, not just a catalog of genres and labels. Maurice Ravel's "Tzigane for Violin and Piano" receives a particularly passionate--and irreverent--treatment here. A gypsy piece, this work is the perfect amalgamation of ethnic modalities from Hungary to Northern India. Moreover, Hope's freewheeling pizzicatos really enliven this work. Other pieces, namely Ravi Shankar's second movement of "Raga piloo," fall entirely into the Indian classical mold. Featuring sitar, tabla drums, and tanpura, this work shows Hope's chameleon-like ability to get inside the essence of Eastern music. Alfred Schnittke's "Sonata 1955 for Violin and Piano" is much more romantic and lush; however, it also uses exotic modalities informed by Schnittke's own Russian upbringing and impressionistic leanings. Hope brings all of this to bear on what is the world-premiere recording of this once-forgotten, but wholly beautiful, sonata.